[0 - 3] Hey, what's up guys welcome back to Basics with Babish, where this week
[3 - 8] We're taking a look at one of the most elemental elements of cookery: stock. If you haven't made homemade stock yourself
[8 - 13] You cannot imagine the difference between it and the store-bought version and that difference
[13 - 19] Shines in chicken noodle soup something that you thought you knew until you made it completely from scratch yourself
[20 - 22] Let's get down to basics
[36 - 39] Okay so the first and most important
[39 - 42] Takeaway from this episode is how to make a good stock
[42 - 46] Homemade stock is one of the most versatile and important tools that you can have in your kitchen
[46 - 53] And you should always keep some on hand anything you have leftover freeze it you won't be sorry the formula is pretty simple
[54 - 61] A few aromatic vegetables like carrots and celery you'll need to break these down into two small pieces next up. We need something oniony
[61 - 63] I'm going with leek this time around
[63 - 69] But you can just use white or Spanish onion scallions anything with a nice mild oniony flavor
[69 - 75] I'm also gonna add some root vegetables here starting with a large parsnip. This is gonna add some peppery bite
[75 - 81] Just like the carrot, we're simply peeling and cutting into a few pieces. I'm also going to add a nice turnip
[81 - 87] This is going to add to the sort of winter vegetable nature of this stock, but you can omit
[87 - 91] Or add as you like there's a lot of room for experimentation here
[91 - 94] But if you follow these steps exactly you will end up with a delicious sippable
[96 - 100] Chicken stock and/or the best chicken noodle soup you will ever have in your life
[100 - 106] One absolute must is an entire head of garlic cut right down the center to expose all the cloves
[106 - 111] No need to peel it just slice and go and because you can't really have two oniony of a stock
[111 - 118] I'm also gonna add a large Spanish onion. I'm just peeling and cutting into quarters keeping the pieces whole now
[118 - 120] It's time to deal with the meat side of our stock
[120 - 128] And if you still have some of your reserved chicken spines from previous episodes or previous chicken related excursions
[128 - 131] We're gonna cut these into one or two inch lengths
[131 - 133] This is going to better expose all that good stuff
[134 - 142] inside the bones now if chicken spines or carcasses are unavailable a great option is chicken wings they're inexpensive and full of cartilage and
[142 - 146] Connective tissue, which is exactly what we want in our stock now
[146 - 151] I'm adding the last few drops from a bottle of good neutral flavored oil like vegetable or canola
[151 - 156] Bringing to a simmer over high heat and then beginning to brown our chicken pieces
[156 - 159] This is optional if you want a lighter colored stock skip this step
[159 - 162] But if you want a nice dark more richly flavored stock
[162 - 165] Which I prefer at least in the case of chicken noodle soup
[165 - 169] Go ahead and brown all of your chicken pieces or at least half of them
[169 - 174] We just want to get some maillard reaction going this is where the roasty unctuous chicken flavor is gonna
[174 - 179] Come from as is the case with all things. We sear in stainless steel pans
[179 - 181] We're going to let them sit undisturbed
[181 - 188] For a few minutes until a brown crust forms and it lifts off the pan don't touch them if they're still sticking now as you
[188 - 191] Can see I only seared about half of my chicken pieces
[191 - 193] And I'm going to add the rest of the chicken and our
[193 - 195] prepared aromatic vegetables
[195 - 201] If you really want to up the rusty flavors you can also sear the onions or you can throw all this stuff in a high-temperature
[201 - 204] Oven until everything is good and browned
[204 - 210] There's also no need to make this from pristine new vegetables like these you can make it from scraps and trimmings from other
[211 - 216] Dishes that you've made, but do not skimp on the fresh herbs. I'm going to add a few sprigs of thyme and parsley
[217 - 222] Along with a few whole peppercorns, but no salt do not salt your stock
[222 - 226] You don't know what level this is going to boil down to how thin
[226 - 231] It's gonna be how thick it's gonna be and you want to be able to control the salinity of your final dish
[231 - 236] Now as you slowly bring your stock to a bare simmer you're gonna notice that some scum forms on the top
[236 - 238] This is just gross stuff
[238 - 244] Impurities coming out of the chicken pieces and the vegetables we want to skim this off using a soup ladle
[244 - 249] You don't have to do this, but leaving the scum in there will make the stock more cloudy
[249 - 255] we're letting that go for a bare minimum of four hours and up to twelve during which time I'm going to start prepping my
[255 - 257] vegetables for the chicken noodle soup
[257 - 264] I've got carrots celery a parsnip that I'm going to chop very finely because it doesn't cook down as quickly as carrots or celery
[264 - 270] Maybe half a turnip that I'm similarly going to cut into planks and into tiny bite-size pieces
[270 - 273] Mainly just because I want the suggestion of turnip
[273 - 279] I don't want big old chunks the carrots celery noodles and chicken are the stars of the show here
[279 - 286] Everyone else is just a backup singer, but together they will form a beautiful symphony. I don't know I'm not so great with metaphors
[286 - 289] You'll notice I'm setting the onion aside. You'll see why later for now
[289 - 295] It's time to drain our stock ideally do this through a cheesecloth if you can to catch all the little particles
[295 - 299] But in a pinch a regular strainer works just fine
[299 - 305] Let this guy drain for a good long while you want to make sure you get every single drop this stuff is liquid
[305 - 312] gold now it's time to set this aside and keep it warm while we get our soup started start by heating some olive oil or
[312 - 318] Other a little bit more flavorful oil over medium-high heat until shimmering and adding the onion first
[318 - 324] This is because while I want the other vegetables to retain some of their structure and vegetable this
[324 - 330] Want to make sure that the onions are really soft and integrated into the soup so after they have
[330 - 334] Softened up a bit we're going to add the rest of our vegetables just warming through
[335 - 338] before adding our chicken stock and now over high heat
[338 - 343] We're going to bring this guy to a simmer as it's coming up to a simmer because it's gonna take a few minutes
[343 - 347] We're going to layer a few more flavors. I'm going to add some roughly chopped parsley
[347 - 351] I'm adding this early on because I want its flavor to mellow out as the soup cooks and
[351 - 355] One of several elements that pushes this soup from goodness to greatness
[355 - 359] Grated ginger and lemongrass you're not even going to be able to remember
[359 - 366] What canned chicken noodle soup tastes like after you taste this stuff so once we get this guy up to a rolling boil
[366 - 369] We're going to add our chicken thighs boneless and skinless
[370 - 371] We want these guys to cook fast
[371 - 378] We don't want the extra fat that comes with skin, and we want dark meat dark meat shredded in chicken noodle soup is so
[379 - 386] Categorically better than white meat white meat becomes dry it gets chewy. It is not a good choice for chicken noodle soup
[386 - 388] There's still some fat in these thighs
[388 - 394] So we're going to skim that off as it rises to the surface and after 15 to 20 minutes of a rolling boil our chicken
[394 - 396] Thighs will be ready for extraction
[396 - 401] If they're undercooked it doesn't really matter because we're gonna be adding them back to the soup, and they will finish cooking
[401 - 407] But they're easier to shred if they're fully cooked using a pair of small forks start shredding the chicken into bite-sized pieces
[408 - 415] You can alternately cut it into cubes if you like but I think this is a bit more of a rustic presentation and a better
[415 - 418] Textural choice for the soup add it back to the pot
[418 - 421] And if at this point your vegetables are starting to get too soft
[421 - 425] Take the soup off the heat and now for a couple elements whose flavors
[425 - 430] I want to keep fresh and bright, so we're adding them right at the end some freshly chopped dill a ton of it
[430 - 433] I love ton of dill, but you know this is a personal preference
[433 - 436] And I want a little bit of fresh crunch in this soup
[436 - 438] So I'm going to add some minced scallions
[439 - 445] letting these cook for no more than a minute because I just want them to get to know each other in the pot now at
[445 - 451] Long last it is time to season do not season until your soup is complete, and now you might be saying
[451 - 454] But Andy where are the noodles calm down. I'm getting to that to prevent
[454 - 459] Mushy noodles in your leftover soup always store the soup noodle as' and
[459 - 461] cook the noodles in the soup as
[462 - 466] so I am ladling out the amount that I want to serve into a separate pot and
[466 - 471] Adding some egg noodles or whatever kind of pasta you want, but I prefer egg noodles. They're classic
[472 - 476] And they are spoon friendly that is the most important elements in a chicken soup noodle
[477 - 481] Season a little bit more as necessary because we're adding noodles and these need a little bit more salt
[481 - 486] And now it's time to serve up a bowl of what I can confidently say is
[486 - 492] The best chicken noodle soup in the world this stuff will cure the common cold
[492 - 493] It will mend a broken heart
[493 - 498] It will improve your disposition and outlook on life in general and that will ripple out
[498 - 506] Endlessly across society improving the world as we know it sorry. I just really really love this soup, and so will you.